Sensitise public against unsolicited offers: RBI to banks

Concerned over rising incidents of unscrupulous elements duping the public, RBI today asked banks to prominently display warnings that people should not respond to unsolicited offers through e-mails and phone calls.
"We believe that the absence of financial literacy and lack of alertness to fraudulent schemes/calls are the main reasons behind the innocent depositors falling prey to such schemes," the Reserve Bank said in a notification.
These episodes, apart from impacting the public at large, have repercussions on the banking sector as the money that is misappropriated by these unscrupulous entities should have come to the banking system augmenting banks' deposit base, RBI said.

It has come to the notice of RBI that customers receive telephone calls relating to their winning lotteries/prizes and asking them to deposit money in an unknown account, following which the amount of lottery would be remitted to them or credited to the account they would advise.
Once the customers play along, they remit the required amount, apart from divulging details of their accounts to fraudsters.
RBI suggested that banks as part of their customer education efforts should consider designing suitable posters, pamphlets, flyers or notices containing such messages.

The messages RBI wants lenders to display include 'Never respond to unsolicited offers of money received through mails/phone/other media; No one really gives you money for free and Be careful while investing in seemingly attractive schemes offering high returns'.

There have been several instances of the general public getting tricked by various schemes for mobilisation of funds by way of deposits/investments, RBI said, adding that such programmes are often projected as investments.
As many as 861 bank advance-related fraud cases of Rs 1 lakh and more, totaling Rs 4,920 crore, were reported in the first half of 2015-16.
Invariably, RBI said, such schemes lure the public by
offering higher returns than bank deposits.
The regulator thinks that the wide network of branches of commercial banks could supplement its efforts.
Banks may consider places like ATMs or business correspondents (BCs) for better and wider visibility of messages, it suggested.

It also called for sensitisation of field staff of banks in this regard.